As a black femme living under the United States’ first Orange administration, every piece of “breaking news” makes me feel like I’m living in Groundhog Day. You know, that movie with Bill Murray?
Yeah, that one.
Not a day goes by when you wake up in the morning and don’t hear that the Orange has done something despotic, or someone from his team has been caught in coitus with Russia (again). White liberals talk trash about resisting. They don’t resist. They congratulate Trump for doing something normal.
Rinse, repeat.
This pattern was compounded Tuesday night when he gave his first address to a joint session of Congress. And because his speech was passable, certain mainstream (ahem, white) outlets called it a “success.” Others were pleasantly surprised by his pivot and by his acting presidential.
Of course, marginalized folks aren’t fooled. We know what’s good, and as Maya Angelou once said, “When someone shows you who they really are, believe them.”
However, it seems that liberals still haven’t gotten the message, as they continue to work, knowingly or otherwise, to normalize the Orange. Here are some reasons why this is bad and could turn his already dangerous four-year tenure into an eight-year one:
I want to be very clear about this:
1. Liberals/Democrats/“Good White People” are, for some reason, convinced that their Republican counterparts will one day wake up with a conscience and stop Trump.
This is not going to happen. You will die waiting for this to happen. In fact, people who did not want or desire this administration will die if we wait for this to happen.
I’m not sure how you could still believe that some unicorn of a good Republican will emerge to do the right thing and slay his or her new lord and savior La Naranja if you’ve been around to witness the current events of his administration. In fact, while the Unstable Orange has no idea what he is doing, he has still managed to make the Republican Party his bitch.
What’s more, he and his squad were exposed for talking to Russia before the 2016 presidential election. The attorney general of the United States was caught speaking to Russia in the middle of an investigation he was supposed to head. Hell, let’s talk about him and Betsy DeVos getting confirmed to begin with. Where were these good Republicans to stop that, huh?
Even those who try to prop up John McCain and the like as such figures, forget that ol’ dude and them voted to confirm all these jokers.
Moral of the story? Don’t hold your breath.
2. The onus continues to fall on marginalized people (black people in particular) to stick it to Trump, and this is not sustainable.
In the headline of this piece, I invoked Maxine Waters, Patron Saint of Truth, Shade and Justice, for a reason. While I love her determination and iron will, I am semiflabbergasted that she remains the premier congressperson who is willing to oppose the Orange at every turn.
Of course, if you know black women, this will make some sense. We get shit done. And we hope to save the world. Yet, even with our will, that was not enough to save the country from itself. Nope. Seventy percent of white folk still voted to send the “free world” to hell.
Long story short, white liberals can attempt to sit back and let marginalized folk save the day, but the reality is, they are the only ones who can fix this mess and are responsible for this mess.
And if they refuse to do the heavy lifting? Well, then, they can get ready for eight whopping years of terrible orange tans, neo-Nazi proliferation, and death-inducing health and economic policies.
3. Trump going from Twitter Fingers to Teleprompter Thug does not make him presidential. He remains an erratic, orange despot.
The number of people who were impressed that O-roma managed to passably stumble his way through a speech on a teleprompter was Too. Damn. High.
I could have done the same back on my high school debate team, but even then, my coach still would’ve given me a solid D-minus and called me a shame to my craft. Yet Trump was called “truly presidential” and congratulated on “pivoting” to a more sensible version of himself.
Mind you, he announced plans to publish the crimes of immigrants around the U.S. in a public database. On the same day. How very nice and “presidential” of him.
Still, I can’t say I’m shocked at the sharp heel turn of so-called progressives this time around. But their new tunes do reinforce one thing, however:
White supremacy—and fascism, in this case—is always more digestible to people if it is nicer. More palatable. Presentable.